Our rates are structured to give our clients high quality legal service at the lowest possible costs.
We believe legal services should be accessible, affordable and helpful. You already have problems; your lawyer shouldn’t be one!
We offer a lot of free information on our website, including a blog which is updated weekly.
If we cannot assist you, we will provide you with competent referrals so you are not without representation.
PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENTS / PREMARITAL AGREEMENTS (PMA)
Starts at $5,000 and up for drafting a PMA or reviewing existing PMA prepared by spouse’s attorney. (Additional fees apply for additional edits and drafts, rush, signing session, notary).
In general, if you are contemplating a PMA, we recommend you allot appropriate time prior to the wedding (at least 6 months). The law regarding PMAs is complex, and you should not rush the process.
Both parties MUST be represented by independent legal counsel. (Your fiance/fiancee MUST retain their own attorney). There are no exceptions to this rule.
Don’t know if you need a prenup? Schedule an initial consultation with our office BEFORE you get married.
ADOPTION SERVICES
Adult Adoption:
$2,000, which includes all work necessary to complete your adult adoption, including court appearance at the final hearing and a new birth certificate application.*
* In rare cases where the adoptee wants to be adopted and also have their existing parents keep their parental rights (so the adoptee could have three or four legal parents), additional fee of $750.
Foster-Adoption Finalization:
$850 ($400 is reimburseable), which includes the preparation and filing of all documents, coordination with the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS), appearance at your final adoption hearing.
We provide you with certified, embossed copies of your Adoption Agreement and Adoption Order, and provide your Adoption Agency with proof of payment of fees so that you may apply to L.A. County for reimbursement in the maximum amount of $400.00 per child.
Stepparent Adoption:
Uncontested (Absent parent can be located, and signs consent): $3,500, which includes all necessary paperwork, communication with the Court and the investigating agency, securing the non-custodial parent’s consent, an appearance at the final adoption hearing, and a new birth certificate request.*
*Does not include investigation agency and fingerprinting fees.
If non-custodial parent does not sign consent, the Court will require termination of parental rights before granting an order of adoption. Please note we do not handle termination of parental rights, and will refer you.
COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE
Family disputes should NEVER be handled by strangers in a courtroom. Attorneys, judges, child custody evaluators, forensic accountants, vocational experts, appraisers – these are all strangers.
Unlike other areas of law, family law deals with your FAMILY. This your marriage, your children, and your money. It absolutely hurts when your trust is broken by someone you used to love, but hiring strangers to put your pieces back together necessitates these strangers have your best interests in mind.
Unfortunately, this area of law breeds a lot of opportunistic strangers.
Our firm specializes in nondestructive methods of handling divorce, including collaborative law. You may read more about collaborative divorce here. In a collaborative divorce, both of you have attorneys, and are represented by separate atorrneys. However, unlike litigation, where parties typically hire lawyers to be their weapons of mass destruction, collaborative divorce attorneys refuse to engage in destruction. In order to avoid scorched-earth war tactics, collaborative attorneys promise NEVER to go to Court. Collaborative attorneys are disqualified from going to Court.
This enables the divorce process to be focused on finding solutions, instead of racing to Court.
Collaborative Divorce Fees: Starting retainer $5,000 – 10,000.
CONSULTING ATTORNEY
We offer consulting attorney services, such as the following:
- If you are in mediation, we can provide consulting attorney services from advising to reviewing legal documents.
- We can provide ghostwriting services, to help you prepare your paperwork so you can represent yourself.
- If you need representation at one court hearing, you can hire us to provide limited scope representation at that hearing.
- Currently represented, but want a second opinion? We provide second opinion consultations.
- Brand new attorney or new to family law? We provide consulting services to attorneys.
- Why else to consider a consulting attorney?
Consulting services are $500 – 750 per hour.
DIVORCE MEDIATION
If you and your spouse agree to mediate, you can hire us to be your mediator. As mediator, we are a neutral third party to help facilitate an agreement. We would not be you or your ex’s attorney, and would not be representing either of you. In order to use this service, BOTH of you must be present and agree to use Kelly as your mediator.
15-Minute Telephone Mediation Orientation with BOTH Parties Present: FREE
To secure your first mediation session, we require a retainer of $5,000.
UNCONTESTED DIVORCE (PAPERWORK ONLY)
Document Preparation Fees
Law and Mediation Offices of Kelly Chang charges flat fees for preparing documents in uncontested divorces and mediations.
Generally, it costs $3,000 to process a divorce without children (inclusive of all filing, messenger and document fees), and $3,750 to process a divorce with children (inclusive of all filing, messenger and document fees). The flat fee includes all court filing costs ($450 per person) as well as our attorney service messenger fees for filing documents at the Courthouse. If the Judgment is rejected for any reason, we submit for you with no additional cost. We will hold your hand throughout the entire process until your Divorce Judgment is entered.
To read more in detail about Document Preparation and What to Expect, click here.
MEDIATIONS FOR CLIENTS REPRESENTED BY ATTORNEYS
We offer mediated private settlement conferences. Do you have a case that should settle, but hasn’t? Need to set reasonable expectations for your clients?
We have over 24 years of experience in Family Law litigation and can help you and your clients come to an agreement.
Our rate is $5,000 for full day of mediation, and $3,500 for half-day. Please see Mediated Private Settlement Conference.
REPRESENTATION IN LITIGATION
Minimum $15,000 retainer, billed against our hourly rate of $750.
Prior to litigating, we highly encourage you to explore other more peaceful options.
Protect your family.
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